From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Performance and lessons learned from the Paulin Bentley.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 161\1\ scan0212 | |
| Date | 29th September 1938 | |
| 1380. also 1245 Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} from Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} c. By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}6/R.29.9.38. PAULIN BENTLEY. With reference to Sg{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD}10/E.26.9.38., paragraph 6, we gather from Punt that he intended to say that it was impractical to use the maximum speed of this car, due to traffic, on his run up from the Coast to London on Sunday evening. He is emphatic, however, that it was unintentional if he conveyed the impression that the car was any less satisfactory to handle under these or any other traffic conditions, than the standard Bentley; in fact, rather the reverse owing to its better acceleration and road holding. This point has been confirmed by everyone who has driven the car. It is important because the last aerodynamic body we made had not a good sense of direction at speed, and this experiment has proved that this is not a fundamental defect that must necessarily be associated with stream-lining. Incidentally, Punt stated that he reached a higher maximum bringing the car from London to Derby than he attained in France, and, of more interest to us, averaged consistently over 20 M.P.G. under hard driving conditions. We are certain that the lessons learned from the Paulin will enable us to improve the standard product. The more we study the question of improving the performance of our existing cars, the more it becomes apparent that, at the moment, there are only two ways of doing this, reducing drag or cutting down weight. Weight reduction is not easily accomplished as the history of the Rolls-Bentley since its inception indicates; it is also likely to be attained at the expense of durability. We are, however, gradually learning how to cut down wind resistance without depriving the customer of existing amenities. Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} | ||